Corporate Advocacy Program: The best way to manage and repair your business reputation. Hiding negative complaints is only a Band-Aid. Consumers want to see how businesses take care of business. All businesses will get complaints. How those businesses take care of those complaints is what separates good businesses from bad businesses.

Jeremy Stoppelman CEO of Yelp.com is a real winner. Well, no, not really. This man runs a company that not only thrives on negative attention, but refuses to respond to legitimate concerns.

I want to make it clear that I did everything in my power to work with Yelp.com prior to writing this review. However, they remained belligerent and dishonest. What I am about to tell you may shock you..............

I am not sure how Jeremy can sleep at night knowing that he is running such a joke of a company.

I am in a special niche market. I have a skill that few possess, and it's a marketable skill. I repair circuitry. I do a pretty good job too. I put in long hours, spend a lot of time that I don't get paid for conducting research and doing tests and experiments just so that I can do my job better.

But what happens when the customer isn't right? Well that's where this all begins........

A woman from California sent a laptop to me to repair. During email correspondence, I told her that the repair would cost one hundred dollars plus shipping. She agreed, signed the contract authorizing the repair and shipped it to me.

Now, admit tingly, it took longer than usual. It took about a dozen different rework procedures to get her computer up and running again. I don't get paid extra if it takes me longer. But I kept at it and did not give up. Finally, the laptop was repaired.

I emailed this woman to tell her that it was fixed. I told her that she now owed the $100 plus shipping.

Do you know what she told me?

She told me that she's not paying for the repair because she sold the laptop. Now, how could you sell the laptop while it's with me for repair?

Anyway, I emailed the "new owner" and told him about the balance due. He then said that as the new owner, he didn't authorize the repair and would not pay me. See where we're going here?
These two were running some kind of a scam.

He told me that if I didn't sent the laptop back, that he would call every news station and post reviews all over the internet. After receiving those threats, I told him I wouldn't accept payment from him anyway, since he's not my customer. I would only receive payment from, and return the laptop to - the person who sent it to me in the first place.

Her contract states that if the repair is not paid for within 60 days of notifying her of the completion of the repair, that the laptop would become company property. She acknowledged the receipt of that information in writing, but refused to pay for the repair. 60 days came and went. But I gave her even more time, and more opportunities to come to her senses, pay the lousy hundred dollars, take her laptop back and be out of my life. Still, she refused to pay for the repair.

Now, at this point I want to let you all know that I sent her a video of her laptop up and running - so she had more than enough proof that the repair was successfully completed. She never even tried to dispute that fact after being furnished with the video.

So far, we know that this woman authorized the repair in a signed contract. Email correspondence shows that she knew exactly what the repair would cost. We also know that as of this point, she had not paid anything.

The man that she allegedly sold the laptop to then proceeded to stalk me at my home. He came to my home. Very creepy, unshaven,scruffy looking guy. He looked like he crawled out of a sewer but that's besides the point.

He tried to force the Sheriff's department to make me give the laptop to him. Obviously they didn't do that. They actually said something smart. The Sheriff said that if I took his money and gave the laptop to him, that the woman could turn around and try to sue me for the cost of the laptop if she claims that she never authorized me to give it to him. I then told the Sheriff that I have never engaged in a business transaction with this man, and that the customer who sent the laptop to me never paid for the repair. I told them to leave, and take that creep with them - and like that, they were gone.

The woman then filed a false complaint with the department of consumer protection. I quickly sent them all of my documentation, a copy of her signed contract, all email correspondence and the video I took. They quickly dismissed her case.

Then, the creepy stalker guy proceeds to file the same complaint again, saying weird things like "I just want my laptop back he's holding it hostage". That complaint was dismissed the same day he submitted it. I keep very good records - especially with people that I get a bad feeling about.

So a few months go by, everyone seems to forget about it. Then, a customer brings to my attention that he saw a negative review on Yelp. I knew right away who it was. I'm not perfect, but I take care of my customers.

I read the review - alleging that I am holding her laptop and that I did unauthorized repairs.
Again, she authorized the repair via email and in writing. And as per our contract, I have the right
to hold the laptop until the repair is paid for, until 60 days and then it becomes company property.
The contract was very simple, in plain English. Thanks to this duo, I had to give my contract more teeth after this incident. People often ask why my contract is lengthy. It's because of dishonest people like these two.

Guess what I found right below her Yelp review? Another virtually identical review from the creepy stalker guy!

I contacted Yelp. Someone (probably using an alias) names "Louise" responded, but in a very cryptic manner. Louise was basically good for nothing. Kind of like Yelp.

I informed Louise that I had substantial documentation proving that the review was false and that it served no legitimate purpose but to harass, annoy and defame. Louise never wrote back, but instead had the b@lls to close my account. What kind of company is this clown Stoppelman running? Geez! They had enough of Stoppelman at paypal, so he starts a website in which people can bash other people just for fun. As a professional, I can't imagine how he has ever convinced anyone to fund his project. My bet is that Stoppelman is a hypocrite and will try to sue me for writing this review, when he didn't take a moment to try and address my concerns. Let him try.

Look. If a customer has a legitimate complaint, I'll address it. I'm not perfect. I make mistakes. Sometimes work takes longer than it should, sometimes jobs have to be done over. It happens to the best. But I won't let someone slander my company when I did everything I was supposed to do. I fulfilled my end of the contract - and then some. She did not. And she is using the internet as a weapon to try and gain sympathy. Well I do plan to file a defamation suit against her.

Anyway, after these reviews were posted, sales declined considerably. The sad truth is that people don't see what really happened, they just see an angry review. But this is the part that really gets to me:

First, the fact that Yelp refused to even look at the evidence I had to prove that the statements were false.

Second, the fact that Yelp "filtered" my other legitimate customer's positive reviews. So they allowed this creep to post a false review about me on Yelp, but when my other legitimate (and happy) customers posted reviews, Yelp filtered them, so that only the negative review was visible.

My customers complained about this. I advised them to file complaints against Yelp.

If any of Yelp's investors or advertisers are reading this, I urge you to immediately pull out of Yelp while you still can. You do not want to be associated with a company that is being run in such a reckless manner. Yelp is a company with no core values. No core - period. Like an onion. Peel away the layers, and you'll never get to the core. I can honestly say that I do not think Yelp will be around much longer. Jeremy obviously does not care about doing the right thing. He is unethical and unprofessional.

Corporate Advocacy Program: The best way to manage and repair your business reputation. Hiding negative complaints is only a Band-Aid. Consumers want to see how businesses take care of business. All businesses will get complaints. How those businesses take care of those complaints is what separates good businesses from bad businesses.